


eudaimonia

by munchmuffins



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Developing Friendships, Fluff, Gen, Recovery, shiho suzui deserves to be loved
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-15
Updated: 2018-09-15
Packaged: 2019-07-12 12:33:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,382
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15995321
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/munchmuffins/pseuds/munchmuffins
Summary: Shiho Suzui needed more friends who will care for her.Akira Kurusu was more than willing to become a part of her life.(A friendship fic where Akira can finally tell Shiho that the world isn't as bad as it seems to be.)





	eudaimonia

**Author's Note:**

> My piece for the Volley Star Zine: A Shiho Suzui Fanzine. There's no further info on how this zine will be, but mods said it's alright to post, so there it is. 
> 
> I'm still writing, just so you know, I'm not dead. If you'll check my writing blog [ here ](https://munch-muffins.tumblr.com), you'll see I have some projects to work on before I tackle the rest ;-;

EUDAIMONIA

_by munchmuffins_

.

.

.

It had been so long ago since Shiho was able to take the train. She held onto the straphanger, her eyes looking out the train window as soon as Shibuya came into view. She had almost forgotten how beautiful this place was, even with all the crowd and busy streets, but there was a charm to this city that made her want to come back.

Shiho expected Ann to wait for her, but she was shocked to see another person to be there in her best friend’s place. He was one of Ann’s friends, the one with the mussed up hair and thick-framed glasses, and he was holding a cat in his satchel. Shiho couldn't even remember the last time they spoke to each other, or if they even talked at all, but Ann had said nothing but good things about this person. If anything he had been the first one to talk, telling Shiho that Ann couldn't make it until later and that he'll be the one taking her around.

Akira Kurusu had been patient with her, walking alongside her as they took in slow steps beside each other. It felt nice just to walk like this, just to take the sights as they walked along the streets of Shibuya.

He led her to one of the cafés in the shopping district, the one that Ann had told her about when they texted each night. It was a quaint place, a cozy little venue with a warm smile from an old man waiting behind the counter. He perked up at the sight of Akira coming into the shop, and Shiho thought if only he had stepped out then he would have took Akira in for a crushing hug. It made her laugh - a quiet, lilting sound that escaped her lips, and it felt good just be able to laugh like this.

She remembered that story Ann told her about Valentine's Day, the one about her best friend flinging her prized chocolate at Akira. She watched as his lip twitched to form a grin as she laughed, his eyes gazing down to the floor and she could only guess that he was reminiscing in his own version of the events.

"Is Ann coming?" Shiho couldn't stop the words from coming out. There was silence between them for a while, as if Akira was trying to find the right words to say to her, at least until the cat had jumped out from his satchel and rubbed against her thigh. The feline purred when Shiho stroked its back, curling up on the table right after, and that was when Akira finally spoke.

"Maybe later,” he said with an apologetic smile. "She’ll catch up later. We can wait.”

She nodded, though her mind was elsewhere. As if Ann didn't tell her about the modelling career every single day already. Ann got to chase her dream of being a model, of making Shiho proud of her. Everyone in life had been pushing her to get better, sending support and encouragements her way, and Shiho would be lying if she didn't feel thankful for all they've done.

Her hands clenched as she looked down on the floor. She let out a sigh.

"I'm sorry. I know you don't want to be here. This is a waste of time. You can just leave me here, I'll wait for Ann until she shows up."

Akira has always been so quiet. He was the kind of person who could have vanished and became a wallflower, to become someone just like Shiho, but Akira always had friends. He always had someone he could talk to, whereas Shiho only had Ann to call her best friend. Akira could have been out there, talking to someone else, and yet he was here, sitting across from her in a little coffee shop around the corner with an apologetic smile.

"I want to be here."

That was what he said.

She turned her head away, not knowing what else to say. She swallowed as she kept her gaze down, her eyes brimming with tears that she soon wiped away with her own hands.

"I'm sorry."

That was what she said, but Akira shook his head as he leaned forward to her.

He stared at her behind the glasses, and it had been the first time she saw those eyes gleaming with charm that consolidated her. Akira had been careful with her, choosing his words that always soothed her somehow. Shiho could imagine anyone in his place would have been asking her about how she had been doing ever since she left, but Akira did none of that. He was quiet for awhile, and maybe that was how he had gotten so many people to be by his side - by stealing their hearts and listening to what they have to say.

_"I'm glad you're here."_

Upon hearing those words, she felt like a weight has been lifted from her shoulders. She felt lighter, as if someone had absolute faith in her, as if someone was willing to be with her every step of the way. It has always been Ann and her, the two friends and nobody else, and yet Ann had let someone else into her life. If there was something Shiho learned in her recovery, it was that there are so many people like her, so many who had gotten back up because of their friends - the people that they trusted, the people who believed in them.

What she had gone through, it was something no one should ever endure. It would be hard for her to talk about it to anyone, but if Ann trusted him that much, then that meant Shiho could trust him too, right?

“Do you mind if I ask you something?”

He went quiet, as if leaving the decision for her to make. She looked down at her calloused hands, noting every trace of wounds she had from her training fading over the years. She had seen better days, but at least she didn’t feel like anyone was telling her to jump anymore, didn’t feel like she was walking on a tightrope anymore. There were days when Shiho wanted to hold a volleyball in her grasp, but she knew she couldn’t step in the courtyard anymore, knowing what that would do to her.

Her lips parted, her breath caught in her throat as she tried to speak.

“How do you go back knowing that nothing will be the same? How do you cope with that? What’s the point of getting up every morning and living while you still can when you know that there’s a point in your life when it gets too dark, that you will never be as happy as you were before?”

She gasped when she saw the stunned look on his face. Her hand clasped on her mouth in shock, making her wonder whether or not she should have said any of that at all. “I-I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that! That was really dumb of me, please, don’t, nevermind what I said—“

“The friends I’ve met.” His answer had been quick, much to Shiho’s surprise. “It gets easier. Life doesn’t get any easier, but nothing matters as long as you have everyone by your side.”

It was then that Shiho had remembered who Akira was. They shared the same fate somehow, both unable to see if there was any hope for a better tomorrow, and yet Akira had been putting on a brave face for a while, a trait that Shiho admired all the more they spoke to each other. Ann had been right to send him in her place, and if this was Ann’s way of telling Shiho that Akira was the one person that she could rely on for her troubles, then she would be willing to try and do just that.

If there was something Shiho learned in her recovery, it was that there are so many people like her, so many who had gotten back up because of their friends - the people that she trusted, the people who believed in her.

 

_eudaimonia :_

_‘achieving the best conditions possible for a human being, in every sense–not only happiness, but also virtue, morality, and a meaningful life.’_

**Author's Note:**

> you may go to my [ main blog ](https://munchmuffins.tumblr.com), my [ writing blog ](https://munch-muffins.tumblr.com), or my [ twitter ](https://twitter.com/munch_muffin) if you wanna yell at me to write more and such because why not, really.


End file.
